Schools

Mr. Q marries Miss U

Brush superintendent and his wife assist in kindergarten literacy lesson

By Jenni Grubbs

Fort Morgan Times

Posted:
02/08/2018 07:13:06 PM MST

Mr. Q takes the plunge with Miss U during a "wedding" in front of Brush kindergarten students. The annual play wedding of Q and U is designed to show young students how the two letters go together in words. (Courtesy photo)

Every year, a wedding is held at Thomson Primary School in Brush.

It is the wedding of Mr. Q to Miss U.

Designed as a word development exercise for kindergarten students, the students learn about how Q and U go together in words.

"In January we start talking about the double letter sounds such as sh, wh, ch and so on, including qu," kindergarten teacher Kelly Hessler said. "So in order for to help our kinder students remember that Q and U make a new sound together, we put on a wedding in our school gym."

This year, the wedding happened Jan. 26 and featured Brush Superintendent Dr. Bill Wilson and his wife filling the roles of Mr. Q and Miss U.

"Q is always followed by U, and they want to be together all the time," Wilson said.

"We treat this as a real wedding," Hessler said.

Officiating the wedding was Pastor Rick Davis, and the kindergarten teachers at Thomson served as bridesmaids.

"The students got all dressed up," Hessler said. "We had created QU bowties for the boys and QU wedding veils for the girls to wear."

The teachers walked to the altar, and two kindergarten students served as ring bearer and flower girl, she said. Then Miss U came down the aisle, joining Mr. Q in front of the pastor.

"They recited their vows, and during the ceremony, the pastor used lots of 'qu' words to help students remember that qu says /kw/ sound," Hessler said. "At the end, every student gave a loud 'quack!' to commemorate the wedding."

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The pastor then pronounced Q and U "forever joined together to make all kinds of new words possible," she said.

For Hessler and her fellow kindergarten teachers, it's a way to give a lasting meaning to the lesson about sounds that go together.

"The students talk about the QU wedding for the rest of the year," she said, "and we make sure to use it as a reference if the students forget what sound Q and U make together."

Wilson said he and his wife were more than willing to play Mr. Q and Miss U and be joined at the wedding.

"It's a way to help them remember and associate," he said.

It was a lesson the students likely will not forget.

"The students really seemed to enjoy the wedding experience," Hessler said. "The girls really loved talking with Miss U and couldn't wait to get their picture taken next to her."

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